Fortunately, the title refers to the reindeer and not the Party. This Donner, one of the lesser-known members of the reindeer team that pulls Santa’s sleigh, is the subject of an inventive comedy by the Buntport Theater Company about the increasing dissatisfaction of life on the corporate dole.
Documentarian Oscar Trebold presents a year in the life of Donner, a disgruntled reindeer/everyman played by Muni Kulasinghe. Donner decides that working for North Pole Inc., which owns the entitlements to Christmas, is too taxing. Striking out on his own, the camera captures his plight in a series of still life photographs projected upon three screens that make up the setting of the play.
About the only things that set Donner apart from humans are his antlers, round nose and hooves. As the play progresses, it becomes hilariously clear that Donner represents anyone who has ever tried to beat the system. His coworkers are a cross section of Generation X culture. Blitzer is a stoner whose breakup with Cupid is the only source of bad humor, and Vixen is an exotic dancer between seasons.
Comet is a trust fund reindeer, and Dasher and Dancer play in a rock band. But they have all bought into the team environment fostered by the corporation, even though they only receive a strange Christmas card with St. Patrick’s Day overtones and a visor hat from the corporation for pulling the sleigh all over the Christian world.
Rudolph, played by Erik Edborg, is a prima donna that has shaped his own legendary status. Donner is quick to point out that no one called the egocentric Rudolph names, and he was always welcome to play in their reindeer games.
The herd mentality of reindeer is strikingly similar to American life, and that makes this play more than just an irreverent comedy. Donner wants nothing more to do with the herd. After officially resigning from his job, he attempts to create his own holiday by pitching a spin-off of Christmas to another corporation. But North Pole Inc. has blacklisted him from the holiday market, and Donner doesn’t have any saleable skills. Donner spirals down into the lowest denominator of employment — telemarketer.
“Donner: a documentary” is a timely comedy about the changing shape of Christmas into consumer-driven propaganda. Santa’s whirlwind present-delivering tour was once a mystical story, and children wondered just how he managed to visit everyone in one night. Now, television commercials frequently show elves working in a corporate or industrial environment, the most recent by Fedex. Certainly, the myth of Christmas has changed to mirror our consumer culture. After watching this play, it becomes more apparent that the change is also mirroring the truth.
-Robin Johnson, December 4, 2001, Colorado Daily